Yamanashi Prefecture was hit very badly by the recent heavy snowfall that has caused chaos across Japan, seeing the heaviest snowfall since records began. This has led to the closure of most of the prefecture’s main roads, with many people being left stranded at highway service stations.

But one truck driver from the Yamazaki Bread Company warmed the hearts of freezing motorists by distributing the contents of his delivery van for free.

The driver’s actions have been praised by netizens from all corners of the web, showing how much people value community spirit in times of crisis.

In Yamanashi Prefecture, which has been affected by heavy snowfall, and where places like Kofu City have seen snowfall recorded at an all-time high, there have been several incidents where vehicles have been stranded on local roads.

Amidst all that, the “amazing customer service” of a truck driver from major bread baking company Yamazaki Bread has been trending online. Apparently, the driver — whose truck couldn’t move — treated everyone to the bread the truck was carrying.

■ “Yamazaki Bread Is Amazing”; “The Real Anpanman Appears”

“Yesterday, I was lucky enough to get something from the driver of a Yamazaki Bread truck. He told me ‘Take as much as you want!’ Right now while I’m in waiting for them to remove restrictions on the roads at the Dangozaka service station, that was a very precious meal to me. Thank you so much.”

This tweet was posted on February 16, 2014, along with a picture of the man taking a crate of Yamazaki Bread down from the truck and distributing it to people.

Within 24 hours, the tweet had been retweeted approximately 19,000 times, and was trending. Tweets were flooding in exalting the bold decision of the driver, saying things like “Yamazaki Bread is amazing”; “The real anpanman appears w“; “Yamazaki Breadman is cool”.

Furthermore:

“Yamazaki Bread are gods! I got given bread at the Dangozaka service station. Drivers from other trucks also got out and helped to distribute the bread! From now on, I’ll only eat Yama-pan [Yamazaki Bread] (as original)”
“Central road has been closed due to snow, and at the Dangozaka service station, a passing Yamazaki Bread truck is handing out bread. Sutadon and Soba Kawaraya (noodle shop) and giving out food for free. The staff at Starbucks are holding a tasting class to keep everyone amused. A lot of human warmth here. It’s been really stressful for everyone, but this has been really comforting. I hope that things get moving as soon as possible.”

In this way people were tweeting one after another to inform people of the bread being handed out. It seems as though starting with the driver of the Yamazaki Bread Co. truck, the care everyone has taken really warmed the hearts of the people stuck at the service station.

This is such a good story that warms your heart.
Had I been there,
I don’t suppose I’d have been able to do anything to help people…
We should all be thankful to the people who are working there.

lef*****:

This must have made people happy. They really saved people.

fhs*****:

The bread must also have been satisfied — it didn’t get disposed of for being past its sell-by date.
The fact that this didn’t instigate a bread riot is also very Japanese — it’s a good thing.

正論を語ろう:

Yamazaki’s bread festival in the snow.

tat*****

It would be pretty bad to try and make off a situation like that,
but when you think how their company image has been boosted, the cost of that bread was cheap at the price.
The driver probably couldn’t make the delivery in the snow, and so I guess he treated them to the goods being transported.
I really admire his powers of imagination for doing something that’s not set out in the manual.

tat*****:

Yup, Japanese people really are great.

k_c*****:

Even if he’d done his best to get it delivered, it would just be going stale. This was a good move. On the other hand, there is no bread in the convenience store. Ah well…can’t be helped.

fuk*****:

Yamazaki have done this before.
I wonder if they put it in the manual after last time?
Anyhow, even if he’d delivered it he wouldn’t have been in time, so good job.

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commander

The truck driver’s bold decision to share bread with local residents has certainly boosted the bread brand’s profile, projecting benign images to the public and bringing unexpected big advertisement effects for the bread firm in the circulation of the story, though that decision may be made considering the chances of nearing expiry of the bread.

Anyway, he did a good job.

Boris_Da_Bengal_Tiger

True.

I use to work in a fast food joint and there were several other eateries in the area. At the end of the day, there would be so much food wasted that the workers would take food home and the ones not taken home were thrown away. At least this way, the food (bread in this case) serves its purpose, people get a bit of warmth, and both the employee and the company get good press.

commander

I hope the guy will be appreciated by the bread firm he works for with a bonus for his act that has barnished the corporate image.

Such a reward will encourage other truck drivers to act simiarly next time whem they are in a similar situation. lol

d-_-b

…

YourSupremeCommander

Japanese breads are good, WAAAY better than the WONDERCRAP.

Mighty曹

Best advertisement paid by bread.

bang2tang

CSR

Mighty曹

Truck driving CSR.

Stefan Xu

I wonder how this would turn out in China…?

Mighty曹

The truck would be bum-rushed and the driver left bruised and battered.

Glass Heart

afterward people would be selling the bread they just got for free a block away.

Mighty曹

No joke! I’m embarrassed by the Chinese ladies here (in SF) selling cans of food and boxes of cereal they got at the local food donation center for the poor and needy.